Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-04-02
THE DEAD PASTOR.
Some Stories About tho Reg. Horny
Ward Beecher.
Ispecial Correspondence.l

|aEEl--M a. Nta
Special Correspondence
NEW YoRK, March l4-The newspapers
will be full of stories about Henry Ward
Beecher for weeks. Here is one he once told
of himself: AT one time the faculty decided
that the religious tone of the Amherst college,
where he studied, needed TO be raised, and
resolved upon a visitation of the s~tu1ents
in their room for hat purpose. One day
he saw Professor Burgess, an immensely tall
man, making his way up stairs toward his
(Beecher'sl room and, anticipating a visit from
him, he hustled all his chairs but one, the
legs of which had been shortened one-hulf, into
his wood closet. Seated with a book, on
his low chair, he babe the professor come in,
and of course proffered him the seat Back
ing up before it, the tall professor stopped
and began sounding for it, and at length sue
ceeded in touching bottom and settled down,
bringing his knees quite up into his face and
presenting altogether a very comicai aspect.
For himself, REFRESHING his risibilities with an
iron nerve, MIR. Beecher said he stood end
meekly awaited the expected homily. But
the professor, under the circumstances, proved
unequal to it, and after a moments inspec.
ton of his knees burst into a loud laugh, in
which Beecher heartily joined him, and, with
the remark that he believed he would call
dSdlti, NE StTuHRlGu 10 u pSTpSDQlCuldr auQ
bowed himself out.
Joe Howard, writing for a New York
paper over a year ago, told this story:
"Beeeher was always a great swimmer.
There was in those days near Fulton ferry a
huge floating bath house kept by an old time
exhorter named Gray. Thither Mr.. Beecher
used to go in his younger days, with head,
long jump, plunge deep into the East river
waves, spouting and putting with all the
energy of O full developed whale, an expert
swimmer, IA diver better than any boy in the
City of Churches. The price for q bath was
a shilling. and / shall never forget the odd
sensation / experienced one day when, meet
ing the dominic in the street, he asked if ]
would go down to the ferry and tax a bath.
/ was about 8 years old, and not overburdened
with spending money, and bluntly told him ]
would like to go first rate but / hadn't got the
shilling. A quizzical look spread all over his
ruddy face as, laughingly, he took me by the
hand and said: Come along; when you ask a
young lady to take ice cream with you you
don't expect her to pay for it, do yous'n
Beecher's habit of reading when travelling
on railroad trains favored both his eyes and
his brain. He did not pore over n book con.
stantly, but satisfied himself with leisurely
references to it. After reading not to exceed
a page and a half he used to drop the book
into his lap and rest in reflection and window
gazing for a few minutes before ne resumed
his reading. This process of book study. wa.
gone over with uniform exactness. When he
had enough "inwardly digested,n he went into
a doze till refreshed and then bent to the
book again.
They say that he hati little idea of the value
of money, and a well known writer tells this
story to back IL I'm.